In March 2004, a resident of Cornville contacted the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality to request information on arsenic in drinking water. The resident collected six well water samples from their own well and neighbors’ wells and submitted them to a private laboratory for arsenic analysis. The analyses detected arsenic ranging from 15 to 952 μg/L. ADEQ and the community members asked the Arizona Department of Health Services to provide health information about using the water. Initial conversations with the well owner and other community members revealed that many people had concerns about potential health effects from arsenic exposure.

In August 2001, a resident of New River contacted the Arizona Department of Health Services, Office of Environmental Health to request information on the health risks of arsenic in drinking water. The resident collected two well water samples and submitted them to a private laboratory for arsenic analysis. The analyses detected arsenic at 560 and 600 μg/L. To confirm these very high arsenic results, ADHS staff sampled the well for arsenic and submitted the samples for analysis by the ADHS State Laboratory. Arsenic was detected at 340 μg/L. After that, a large number of people requested health advice on arsenic in their well water. This public health consultation primarily evaluates arsenic levels found in private wells and documents health advice provided to well owners. When other metals were found at levels of concern, health advice was provided to well owners regarding exposure to those metals too.